Black Horizon
by killbethy
Summary: Ten years have passed since the events of Breaking Dawn. Bella and the rest of the Cullens, including a now mature Renesmee, are beginning a new life in Maine. But when disaster strikes, lines are drawn and sides must be chosen. In character & novel form


**Author's Note: **Black Horizon takes place ten years after the events of Breaking Dawn. It's written in the same format as the other books in the Twilight series, so this first section is the preface, which, in keeping with the same format, takes place late within the story. The next installment will be the first chapter. The characters are all the same and I'm going to try to keep them in character as much as possible so this reads more like a 5th book than a fanfiction (even though it still is techinically a fanfiction hehe). Please review! Any type of review, even negative, is appreciated, since reviews can only help improve a story. Also, to keep the fic updated as quickly as possible, I post my original draft right away and go back and correct any typos later.

**Disclaimer: **This story is written purely for enjoyment. Everything from the Twilight saga is property of Stephenie Meyer and does not belong to me in any way, shape, or form. The only thing I have dibs on are any original characters or ideas hehe.

Black Horizon

PREFACE

I stared blankly out the two-story glass plane into the darkness of the Olympia Penninsula hopelessly wishing that the figures of the towering trees and distant mountains would blur into the shapes of the black monsters that were encroaching me and my family. My keen eyesight just wouldn't obey, not allowing one moment of unfocus to release me from my agony. Pain shot through every limb of my body, crippling my will. For the first time in ten years, I genuinely missed the absent tears that should be streaming down the ashen white reflection in the glass, but my liquid topaz eyes stared dryly back at me. For a moment, the reflection I saw felt like it appeared to someone else, someone stronger, not the fragile emotional wreck that I felt I should see. I hadn't felt this disjointed since Alice first showed me my reflection when I began my new life, or rather existence, as a being beyond human, a vampire.

Ten years, the length of time echoed in my mind, ten unchanging years. Until now. After the incident with Renesmee and the Volturi, everything seemed to have fallen into place. My vampiric existence felt right, like it was marked somewhere in the stars the day I was born that my destiny was to be that of an eternal one. Even during the short 18 years of my human life, I knew I was different somehow. It was a fact that even the people, though few and far between, had also noticed. My mother had referred to me as middle-aged even while I was a teenager. This mental difference carried through to my existence now. Edward liked to attribute it to a maturity beyond my years that I had achieved through taking care of my whimsical mother that developed into both keen insight and a mental unwillingness to allow anyone to see any differences in me beyond the superficial. I always believed that it was just another trait of emotional reservation I inherited from Char... A new shockwave ripped through my body, anger. I bit my lip, the strong lock of my jaw puncturing my lip, hard as diamond, but before I could even look, it was instantaneously healed. Would the pain inside ever heal? Was I as resilient on the interior as I was on the exterior? Five hundred years from now, would I still be able to recall in vivid detail everything I was feeling at this moment in time?

I wry smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. I didn't have five hundred years, I didn't even have five hundred seconds. All I could do now was wait for this "immortal" body to be slashed into pieces and burned. My existence, my family's existence, would soon be nothing more than a strange purple smoke rising above the treetops on the outskirts of Forks. All the strength I thought I had finally found, physical strength in my superhuman body and supernatural strength in the protective barrier I could create, were now all useless. Even the profound feelings of love that had endlessly consumed me, never waning or tireing, were beginning to tarnish. Ten years had allowed me to believe that the miserable luck I had as a human was something I had overcome and would never need to face again; but perhaps, instead the time between the bouts of unfortune had just extended along with my lifespan.

I covered the reflection of my deceiving perfect countenance with my hand, allowing one last glimpse at the golden eyes. Maybe red would be my new lucky color. Even if my family disowned me, despised me, and I was left dead or alone for all of eternity, maybe they could still be safe afterwards and unstained by the sins I needed to commit.

A gentle hand lifted mine away from the glass, tugging it slightly and twirling me around faster than the human eye could perceive. I stared up at Edward, still dazzled by his beauty after all this time, but my heart couldn't flutter in his presence the way it did when I was human. Instead, it seemed as if knives stabbed the unbeating place in my chest where that love had belonged. He cradled my hand in his, lightly tracing his thumb in circles against my palm.

"Bella..." His light wind escaping his mouth with the sound of my name tickled my ear. "Bella, love."

Love. That word coupled with my name from his lips was all I needed to hear. All my previous musings had only taken a mere few seconds while Edward had flitted around the house telling our family to gather in the upstairs dining area in a few moments.

A few moments were all I had. I wrenched my free hand into a claw, carefully hidden behind my back and away from the reflection of the glass wall.

I rose to my toes, kissing my husband and eternal partner passionately on the lips.

"I love you." The words rang like a gentle requiem.

In a flash fast even for a vampire, I swiped my hand downwards and across his forearm, severing it one swipe. With all the force I could muster, I threw the limb through the window, shattering the glass and hearing a thud somewhere across the river as I already flew through the front door. Edwards gasps of pain rang torturously in my head, and I could hear the commotion in the house as I flew through the trees in the direction of Forks.

It was only several seconds later that I reached my destination. If my heart could stop again, it would have at that instant as my eyes took in the rubble that was once the home I lived in with Charlie during my human time in Forks. In the distance I heard a heart beating, a tempo that was far too quick even for the most frightened of humans. Instincts took over as I crouched into an attack position.

"So you thought by coming alone the others would be spared?" The ensuing laughter still rang like gold windchimes even though it was laced with incredulity and mockery. "Tell me, _Bella._" Unlike the gentle way my name was just said by Edward, Edward who was writhing in pain at this very moment, this sounded more like a curse. A curse from once the most pure of lips. "Why would I allow your love to live on when mine can not?"


End file.
